Aug 12, 2010 12:28 PM

I suspected this to be a shield bub of some type. It was photographed in late May in Les Cevennes area of SE France on the plateau in the limestone district at a height of about 1000 metres. As you can see it was raining! The immediate environment was open grassland adjacent to conifer trees. There was no recent grazing as there were plenty of orchids about in the field.

Thanks Afterforty (should I call myslelf afterseventy?!) I am quite content to accept your ID. I am a keen photographer, with my main other interests as birds, butterflies and flowers. I am definitely not strong on beetles so having found this site I find it a really useful resource. I have discovered that you learn a great deal more about your photographic targe if you take the trouble to identify it correctly and find a bit more about it. Slowly but surely the knowledge wipes off into ones brain. Thanks